View full sizeRecology has invested $5 million in site improvements, but odor complaints have persisted near the Nature's Needs facility. Michal Thompson, The Argus

Even if county commissioners deny an extension of Nature's Needs' controversial food waste program, the site may continue accepting food waste into late summer.

That issue marked just one point of contention at a work session this week at which commissioners and county staff discussed the fate of the site just east of North Plains.

"I have a problem with that," commissioner Bob Terry said of the proposal by Recology, parent company of Nature's Needs. "I don't think the city would appreciate that."

What once seemed a simple yes-or-no vote is now more complicated.

Under the two options available to the board – either allowing Recology an eight-month extension to accept residential waste only or terminating the program completely – there will be a "phasing-out" period. In the event the board denies an eight-month extension altogether, the site will continue accepting both commercial and residential waste at least through the spring, the time period the commissioners prefer, or possibly through late summer, which the company has requested.

If the board votes to allow the site to accept Portland's residential waste for the next eight months, the company will likely face a mid-spring date to completely get rid of all commercial food waste.

Recology officials say that not accepting commercial waste will make a huge difference, noting that about 80 percent of the current food waste at the site is commercial.

At a Dec. 18 meeting, the board voted 4-1 to extend the company's permit another month, giving the commissioners time for yet more deliberation about the program.

At that meeting, county staff formally presented two new conditions the company proposed in an attempt to secure an extension: Turning compost piles only at night and, more significantly, no longer accepting commercial food waste at the site.

"There's no guarantee that will be acceptable to the community," said Theresa Koppang, the county's solid waste manager. "I'm hoping that will eliminate (the odor) or reduce it to reasonable."

More conditions were presented at Tuesday's work session, including decreasing a nine-month extension option to eight months and giving the board greater power to terminate the program at any point.

As many of the commissioners have wavered on the issue, defending the company in the same breath as they deem the circumstances in North Plains unacceptable, chair Andy Duyck has offered the only resolute stance: no.

Over the past year 1,250 odor complaints against the site have piled up, something Duyck says indicates the program is not viable.

Terry, who represents North Plains, voted against the one-month extension in December. But Terry was less definitive at the work session, entertaining the possibility that reducing the commercial stream might alleviate odor issues.

The site is permitted to accept food waste for the next 10 years through the Department of Environmental Quality, according to the agency's Northwest solid waste manager, Audrey O'Brien.